New Hires are a Valuable Resource

We’ve brought on two engineers in the last four weeks, and aiming to keep up the pace. I’m constantly reminded of how valuable new hires can be. The person can be senior, green, front-end, back-end, local, or remote. All that needs to happen is open communication and clear on-boarding. The new member’s point of view will take care of the rest.

To me, one of the best things a new hire can do is expose confusion or weak points in the code. For example, part of your on-boarding should be orientation with the data models. If the new member gets confused on the model relationships, you should be listening with all your heart for exactly how he or she is tripping up. It’s the current team’s fault, not the new member’s. The same process applies to deployment practices, issue tracking, even team management.

The fresh eyes that any new team member brings are essential to improving both your group and your product. Humans adapt way too quickly to any problem brought into their lap - you should be eager for new blood to jolt you awake. The inevitable, though, will always occur - acclimation. You should encourage that new engineer to raise any and all concerns during the on-boarding process.